128 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 23:1

Sibawayhi
Michael G. Carter

London and New York: I.B. Tauris and Oxford University Press India, in
association with the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, 2004. 159 pages.

In the “Foreword,” Michael Carter states that his book is aimed at the gen-
eral reader who is interested in the history of Arabic grammar and, in partic-
ular, in the achievement of Sibawayhi, the discipline’s architect and origina-



tor. This much-needed and long-awaited effort is a welcome addition to the
field of Arabic grammatical theory, for it contextualizes Sibawayhi’s gram-
matical ideas, as set forth in his Al-Kitab, by giving a short account of his
background and life (p. vii). The reader, whether advanced or novice, will
appreciate how accessible the material has been made. To be sure, reducing
Sibawayhi’s complex and profound observations to 145 pages runs the risk
of making it even harder to understand. But the author avoids such pitfalls
with ease and grace. In fact, a knowledge of Arabic is not essential; but, as
the author says, “given the nature of the topic it will certainly be useful” (p.
vii). All examples are transliterated and translated, and technical terms and
basic concepts are explained as often as possible. 

Despite the complex subject matter, Carter does a brilliant job describ-
ing the Kitab’s place within the Arabo-Islamic system and the historical con-
text in which it was written. It is useful to spend some time on Sibawayhi’s
life, even though little is actually known about it, and so chapter 1, “Siba-
wayhi the Person,” explores his importance through portraits in biographies
as well as from the contents of his own work. It has been convincingly
argued that the earliest form of Sibawayhi’s name (Amr ibn `Uthman Siba-
wayhi) is probably authentic (p. 9). That Sibawayhi was by origin a Persian
who ended up in Basra seems to be beyond contention, although neither the
date nor the place of his birth can be confirmed. All biographies agree that
he came to Basra to study religious law, either Hadith (traditions of the
Prophet) or basic principles of fiqh (jurisprudence), which were just begin-
ning to take form. The details of his death are just as vague as those of his
birth and personal history. Carter presents his readers with a short account of
this problem, with which even the classical biographers had to wrestle (see
pp. 15-16).

Through the discussion on Sibawayhi’s principal teachers (Yunus ibn
Habib and al-Halil ibn Ahmad; pp. 25-32) and the question of his originality,
Carter shows how the Kitab documents the evolution of Sibawayhi’s gram-
mar by illuminating the latter’s attitude both to the subject matter and to his
masters, for the Kitab contains reports of real conversations and debates.
This is significant, as Carter points out, for the fact that Sibawayhi does not
shy away from disagreeing with their positions or data is unmistakable proof
of his “intellectual rigor and commitment to truth” (p. 25). Sibawayhi did
show the utmost respect, especially to his master al-Halil, whose presence in
the Kitab is ubiquitous (p. 29). Even by its sheer size, notes Carter at the
beginning of chapter 2, “The Kitab: Composition, Data, and Terminology,”
the Kitab is conspicuously different. Sibawayhi’s work is more than 900

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130 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 23:1

pages long in the nineteenth-century printed editions! In this respect, it out-
shines the literary products of its time period, although what is more bizarre,
according to Carter, is that it arrives on the scene as a complete work when
there were very few works to compare with or imitate. 

Chapters 2 and 3 bring to light four of the key characteristics of the
Kitab. The first one is that the wholesale transfer of a juridical model to a
linguistic system is probably Sibawayhi’s greatest and most vital innovation.
As Carter points out, the structure of his grammatical theory is identical with
the ethico-legal style of thinking that was just evolving during his lifetime.
Indeed, the Kitab’s methodological terminology is overwhelmingly legalis-
tic. Carter highlights its notions of speech as behavior, the ethically inspired
criteria of correctness, and the ubiquity of analogy (especially, a fortiori
arguments), all of which are prominent in legal reasoning (p. 51). In chapter
4, which deals with syntax, Carter expands on Sibawayhi’s use of analogy,
the controlling principle, and states that he recognized it as the most “potent
controlling force” in language. As a result, the Kitab contains several terms
for it, all of which denote some kind of similarity but each with a technical
reference (see p. 82 ff).

The second key characteristic, which Carter appropriately ties to the
first, is that the Kitab’s purpose is to describe the Bedouins’ speech in a way
that will enable others to imitate it. Sibawayhi regarded “speech” (kalam) as
a “social activity carried out in a context of speaker and listener and guided
by the same ethical principles as all other human behavior” (p. 56). The
Kitab’s third important characteristic is its author’s application of a consis-
tent and uniform terminology at all linguistic levels, which culminates in a
complete methodical coherence. The fourth and final key characteristic has
to do with the notion that “the speaker’s competence is non-linear, a bundle
of simultaneous processes that cannot be described directly in the linear style
of scientific discourse” (p. 145). Carter revisits this notion throughout the
book, leaving the reader with a better understanding of Sibawayhi’s complex
theory of language. The latter two characteristics are further discussed in
subsequent chapters on syntax, morphology, and phonology. Syntactically,
the Kitab classifies speech elements into two groups: word classes (e.g.,
nouns, adjectives, and verbs) and positions in which the word classes can
appear (e.g., subject and predicate). In addition, it presents meaning as the
product of the root and pattern system. 

Carter ends his book with chapter 7, “The Legacy of the Kitab,” appro-
priately closing with mentioning Sibawayhi’s death. As his death was unex-
pected, in all likelihood the Kitab was in a kind of indeterminate state. It was



preserved only by al-Ahfash al-Awsat (d. 215/830), who not only acquired
“a license” for his copy from Sibawayhi’s teacher Yunus ibn Habib, but who
also taught the Kitab’s contents to his own students. Ultimately, this knowl-
edge was passed on to al-Mubarrad (d. 285/898), who, in turn, raised the
Kitab to its proper position as the founding text of Arabic grammatical sci-
ence. It is still known, even in our own time, as the “Qur’an of grammar.”
This book does exactly what it sets out to achieve: It outlines Sibawayhi’s
ideas and marks out the Kitab as an outstandingly original achievement.
Carter leaves the reader with little uncertainty that in intellectual terms, it
stands alone at the zenith of Arabic grammatical thought. 

Rebecca B. Molloy
Independent Scholar
Armonk, New York

Book Reviews 131